Chapter 379: The Xi'an Incident

The figure of the great man is far away, the history is full of thick dust, but it has not been buried, the Xi'an incident has an immeasurable and far-reaching impact on China, for the entire Chinese nation.

The six-point agreement reached in the Xi'an Incident was as follows: (1) to reorganize the Kuomintang and the Nationalist Government, expel the pro-Japanese faction, and accommodate the anti-Japanese elements. (2) Release the patriotic leaders of Shanghai, release a criminal who is a political offender, and guarantee the people's right to freedom. (3) Stop the policy of "suppressing the Communists" and unite the Red Army to resist Japan. (4) Convene a national salvation conference attended by all parties, factions, circles, and armies to decide on the policy of resisting Japan and saving the country. (5) Establish cooperative relations with countries that are sympathetic to China's resistance to Japan, and (6) other specific measures to save the country.

It brought about the second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, laid a solid foundation for the establishment of the anti-Japanese national united front, and brought all parties together for the goal of this nation.

The footsteps of history have long gone, the gunshots by the Huaqing Pond have disappeared in the long river of time, and the merits and crimes of the thousands of years have been commented by their own descendants, which is nothing more than a matter of opinion, who can restore the true face of history?

According to the evaluation of the Chinese Kuomintang, the Xi'an Incident was the result of Zhang Xueliang's instigation and instigation of the Communist Party after the September 18 Incident and condemnation by the people of the whole country, and then dissatisfied with the basic national policy of "suppressing the Communist Party first and then resisting Japan".

At the end of 1936, he staged a mutiny in Xi'an, held Jiang Zhongzheng, then chairman of the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government and chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang, hostage, and put forward eight proposals, including stopping the suppression of the Communist Party, reorganizing the government, and sending troops to resist Japan.

The Xi'an Incident caused the Nationalist Government to stop suppressing the Communist Party, and the Communist Party resisted Japan, and the anti-Japanese preparations of the government were forced to be interrupted, and the all-out anti-Japanese war broke out ahead of schedule.

According to the evaluation of the Chinese side, due to the occurrence of the Xi'an Incident and its peaceful settlement, the ten-year civil war was finally ended, domestic peace was achieved, and the establishment of the anti-Japanese national united front based on the cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party was promoted, which greatly encouraged the anti-Japanese enthusiasm of the Chinese people, launched the anti-Japanese war of the whole people, and persisted for eight years until victory.

And one of the leaders, Zhou Enlai, who was then vice chairman of the Central Committee, commented on Zhang Xueliang: "a national hero and a hero of the ages".

Zhang Xueliang self-evaluation, in the decades after the incident, Zhang Xueliang has always insisted: "As a soldier, I should be shot; But according to my conscience, I did not do anything wrong to any Chinese, and under the circumstances at that time, I would have done that, but I Zhang Xueliang did it. ”

As for why Zhang Xueliang was willing to take the risk and personally send Chairman Chiang back to Nanjing, there have always been different opinions, according to Zhang Xueliang himself: "The leader is a mud bodhisattva, and now that I have brought him down, I will personally help him up, and if he has a spirit, I will take his head and kowtow to him." He said so, and did so, using the freedom of the second half of his life to do the best of a man's bones.

Song Meiling's evaluation of Zhang Xueliang was very positive, and she publicly said that Zhang Xueliang's Xi'an incident, "Han Qing doesn't want territory, he doesn't want money, he wants to sacrifice." Based on her understanding of her husband Jiang Zhongzheng, with Song Meiling and Zhang Xueliang's sī friendship, she can completely understand Zhang Xueliang's mentality at that time.

Therefore, in the years to come, Madame Chiang tried her best to protect Zhang Xueliang from harm, and the American minister to China, Jeffers, recorded in a memoir that Soong Meiling said to Chiang Kai-shek: "If you have anything unfavorable to that little guy (referring to Zhang Xueliang), I will leave Taiwan immediately and publish all the things you have done." ”

The Song family and Zhang Xueliang have always had a close relationship, and the trial of Zhang Xueliang by the Central Committee of the Kuomintang led to the great dissatisfaction of the Song family, and Song Ziwen wrote to Chiang Kai-shek many times to defend Zhang Xueliang's rehabilitation, and was willing to guarantee his life with his net worth, and even willing to resign from his concurrent positions in exchange for Zhang Hanqing's personal freedom.

And the party Chairman Jiang, the evaluation of Zhang Xueliang's initiation of the Xi'an Incident is: "Han Qing is confused" is only these four words, but he said all about Jiang's complicated feelings, like regret, as if hating iron is not steel, like the eldest brother's reproach to the ignorant younger brother, as the so-called, all in one word.

Hu Shi, a celebrity of the Republic of China, commented: "It is not easy for China to form a leader, and if Jiang Zhongzheng is unlucky, China will go back 20 years," and clearly determined that Zhang Xueliang launched the Xi'an Incident as "in the name of resisting the enemy, but in fact it is self-defeating the Great Wall" and is "the sinner of the country and the nation", "Without the Xi'an Incident, it can be eliminated soon, and the loss of the Xi'an Incident to our country is irreparable." ”

Some people who are familiar with Chairman Chiang commented that Chairman Chiang's attitude towards Japan was not to appease and seek peace, but was really due to the huge disparity in national strength between China and Japan, and the first thing Chiang Kai-shek wanted to do was to eliminate the separatist forces of ** and local warlords, unify the Chinese region south of the Great Wall, and then use the strength of the country to deal with the Japanese.

Although the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression had to be fought, it was a direct consequence of the Xi'an Incident when it began on July 7, 1937, and it cannot be ruled out that the Japanese army did not feel a real threat and did not invade the Central Plains region when the Chinese national united front was not rapidly formed, but turned directly north to the Soviet Union.

There are different opinions, mixed reviews, the Xi'an Incident did happen, it did change the course of China's history, and the merits and crimes of thousands of years can only be commented on by future generations.

On the afternoon of 25 December, when Chairman Chiang's plane flew over Shangluo, Shaanxi, the headquarters of the Left Route Army in the Northwest of Shaanxi, Liu Zhi, commander-in-chief of the Left Route Army, said nervously to Tang Qiuli: "The chairman of the committee is in the air and asks to speak to Deputy Commander-in-Chief Tang in person. ”

Tang Qiuli took over the air liaison plane, and Chairman Jiang's thick Jiangsu-Zhejiang accent came from the earphones: "Deputy Commander-in-Chief Tang, thank you for your hard work, master the troops, and wait for the order to return to Nanjing." ”

Tang Qiuli knew that when the old man returned to Nanjing safely, it was time to reward him for his meritorious deeds and deal with punishments, and the first merit was waiting for him, although Chairman Jiang did not say much, he clearly conveyed a lot of information, and taking good control of the troops was the most important information, and the 300,000 Central Army was in his own hands, and the old man was very relieved.

The call between Chairman Jiang and Tang Qiuli was clearly transmitted to the ears of the generals through the magnifying machine in the headquarters, Tang Qiuli turned around and looked coldly at Liu Zhi, the commander-in-chief of the Left Route Army, who was sweating profusely on his face, and the senior generals who were sincerely afraid.

On the afternoon of 24 July, a division of Liu Zhi's division of the Left Route Army, without receiving any orders, suddenly left the Majie garrison and arrived at Lantian in the southern suburbs of Xi'an via Heilongkou and Gongwangling, creating a situation of troops approaching Xi'an.

At this time, Tang Qiuli was still on the way to Shangluo in Luoyang, after learning about this, Tang Qiuli was shocked into a cold sweat, he was really bold, and dared to mobilize his troops and march into Xi'an under such circumstances, did he get that person's order?

It is by no means that this division commander is dizzy, someone must have bypassed him and directly gave him an order, and the person who gave the order must have an extremely close relationship with this division commander, otherwise, even if this division commander ate leopard gall, he would not dare to use his head to disobey the military order.

When he arrived at the headquarters of the Left Route Army, the commander-in-chief Liu Zhi was in that hurry, full of sadness, at a loss, Liu Zhi and his ability were extremely mediocre, but he had always served as the first senior commander, and he was powerless to be in the anti-Japanese battlefield, or in the subsequent battlefield of the Kuomintang and Communist Civil War, he had no achievements, neither the ability to kill the enemy, nor the remarkable military achievements, and no merit at all.

**Internally, it is called a lucky general, but in fact, it is sarcastically ridiculed as a stupid general, and the famous general Du Yuming once lamented and said: "Under the command of a pig, how can you fight a good battle?" "Even such a person has indeed been reused by Chairman Jiang again and again.

Until the official worships the first-class general of the army and serves as the supreme commander of the front theater, the old man's way of employing people is really like an antelope hanging on its horns, which is incomprehensible and has no rules at all.

Of course, Liu Zhi had no way to deal with this situation, panicked, and when Tang Qiuli arrived, the headquarters of the Left Route Army was already full of senior generals of various troops, one by one, like clay carvings and wood sculptures.

Tang Qiuli learned that this unit that entered the southern suburbs of Xi'an without authorization was the 106th Division under Liu Zhi's subordinates, and the division commander was Army Major General He Yuquan, who was the nephew of He Yingqin, Minister of Military Affairs, and that the 106th Division was the main division of the Left Route Army, with 10,000 men and excellent equipment.

Tang Qiuli suddenly realized, and all understood that He Yingqin must be unwilling to lose a golden opportunity like this, so he made a desperate bet and directly gave orders to his nephew, or to implement the plan of killing people with a knife.

If you want to say that He Yingqin's head is in the water, or Li Lingzhi is faint, ambition makes him crazy, the Xi'an incident has come to an end, he sent a mere 10,000 people to use a fart, just 200,000 Northeast Army, can drown the 106th Division, not counting the 17th Route Army and the **Red Army.

Tang Qiuli ordered Liu Zhi to convene an emergency military meeting in the name of the commander-in-chief of the Left Route Army of the Northwest Suppression Army, to convey to the Military Commission of the Nationalist Government the latest military deployment of the armed crusade against Zhang Yang, so that He Yuquan, commander of the 106th Division, must attend the meeting, and the troops should stay in place and stand by.

At the same time, he ordered Mei Ting to send a telegram: Tang Qiusheng, commander-in-chief of the mobile corps of the Dingbian Garrison Area, and the command post headquarters should immediately go south through Xianyang, and must deploy defenses in the southern suburbs of Xi'an on the morning of 25 May to form an encirclement of Lantian .

Feng Jiwu, commander-in-chief of the independent division of the southward corps, commanded the post headquarters, left Luling Pass and marched westward, passed through Luonan, approached Lantian and formed an encirclement with the Dingbian Mobile Corps to form an encirclement of the 106th Division of the Central Army stationed in Lantian.

The two divisions waited for the order, ready to attack at any time, if the 106th Division refused to disarm and annihilate on the spot, this order, Tang Qiuli, commander of the North China Independent Division.

Tang Qiuli issued a series of orders, murderous, his face was cold, Liu Zhi and the generals of the Left Route Army were stupid, my mother, this very young deputy commander-in-chief, he was ruthless enough, the central army of a division, more than 10,000 people, said to disarm the disarm, and if he did not accept it, he would be annihilated on the spot.

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